Feinstein plugged the nation-building strategic doctrine now being pushed by the Pentagon’s best and brightest, as well as the Democratic "national security" crowd over at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where the theoreticians of COIN hold court. The timeframe of this strategy went unmentioned by the senator, but it is measured in decades. Also unmentioned: the costs, not only in lives but in tax dollars.

Feinstein has personal knowledge of those expenditures, not only as former chairwoman and ranking member of the Senate’s Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (2001-2005), but also as the spouse of one of the biggest war profiteers in the business. Reporting in one of our excellent local northern California papers,The Bohemian(yes, as in Bohemian Grove), Peter Brynenotes:

"Feinstein supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars a year for specific military construction projects. Two defense contractors whose interests were largely controlled by her husband, financier Richard C. Blum, benefited from decisions made by Feinstein as leader of this powerful subcommittee.

"Each year, MILCON’s members decide which military construction projects will be funded from a roster proposed by the Department of Defense. Contracts to build these specific projects are subsequently awarded to such major defense contractors as Halliburton, Fluor, Parsons, Louis Berger, URS Corporation, and Perini Corporation. From 1997 through the end of 2005, with Feinstein’s knowledge, Blum was a majority owner of both URS Corp. and Perini Corp."

Blum and Feinstein are laughing all the way to the bank asURS CorpandPerinigrow fat on the military appropriations gravy train – the only sector of the U.S. economy that seems to be thriving. Perini, in which Blum owns a controlling interest, is the Democrats’ Halliburton – indeed, Cheney’s old corporate digs is Perini’s chief competitor. Blum bought it when it was nearly broke in 1997. In 2005, Feinstein’s membership on the subcommittee was "routinely" rotated, as theSoros-fundedshills over at Media Matters made sure topoint out, contrary to Bryne’s assertions that she might have resigned under pressure. By that time Perini was raking in $1.7 billion in annual income.

Theinfrastructure-intensivewarfare championed by McChrystal and the COIN crowd is precisely the strategic framework that will enrich the Perini/URS military-industrial combine. All those bases stuck out in the middle of nowhere that Feinstein wants to construct and defend will need to be built, supplied, reinforced, and regularly maintained. This is a job tailor-made for the Blum/Feinstein war profiteers and all the other politically connected firms that feed at the public trough.